SBD Westfield – 2.0L XE (Road-going)
1995
Our long association with Westfield began in 1992, when Steve built an engine for Christian Silk’s Westfield to be used on the hillclimbs. This market proved very interesting, leading to SBD’s first Westfield in 1995. Steve decided to build a Westfield to compete in sprinting & hillclimbing, as he decided that with running the business & trying to compete in rallying was taking up too much of time & after driving Christian Silk’s car, it seemed like a fun car to drive.
He originally decided to run in Road Going Class up to 2.0L, as we quite regularly dealt with Terry Nightingale supplying engine components & engines at the time, we ordered a narrow bodied chassis to suit the 2.0L XE. After carefully studying all the rules, built the car up over a period of 6 – 8 months ready for the 1995 season.
Steve persuaded Car & Car Conversions (CCC) to do a feature on our new car & Steve Bennett, who was already competing a Westfield in the same class came along to do the test drive & report. Unfortunately after he had driven the car, he realised exactly how fast the car was & how far ahead of the opposition it was. He did a really nice report saying how good the car was.
CCC feature on the SBD Westfield in February 1995 issue
Although Steve drove it to the first event, which was quite hairy on road tyres in the wet, the car was deemed to be not within the spirit of the rules & he was asked to change classes. This meant he had to compete in Sports Libre Class. He had to admit that competing round Goodwood on road tyres at speeds up to 145mph with a car that could wheel spin at over 100mph in the wet was certainly very interesting. He managed to finish 3rd in Class up against some very quick sports libre cars so wasn’t too disappointed.
The next event would be Gurston so only had a few weeks to work on the car to get it ready, the windscreen was removed & an aeroscreen fitted, wider front & rear wheel arches fitted & got wider wheels made by Image for wets & slicks. Unfortunately it was not possible to get the wets in time & Gurston happen to be one of the wettest events ever, so by the time the car was off the trailer, Steve was soaked through to the skin. He hadn’t even looked at the hill for his first run & didn’t even know which way the track went when he started first practice, this made it very interesting to drive. He was so wet that he would have gladly gone home straight away but everybody had worked so hard to convert the car from Road-going to Sports Libre, he felt he had to drive the car. By the time he had got to first practice, many of the local drivers had already spun off, so his first view of the soaking wet track was interesting to say the least.
He sped off the start line, as always as fast as possible, as he reached the bottom of the hill, he realised the track went to the left & not straight up as apparently the old circuit used to go, so opted for a route between the two taking to the grass bank. He managed to recover & actually made it to the top of the hill with a now mud-coloured car! The following runs were almost as interesting & with no let up in the rain, running on road tyres with this much power made it almost impossible to drive. In fact his best run of the day, he managed to cross the finishing line backwards. It was a day best forgotten!!
Engine specification:
2.0L XE with SBD taper throttle kit for 250bhp,
Omega pistons,
Steel rods,
Steel crank shaft,
Dry sump system
MBE management system.
SB Developments Feature in Speedscene January/March 1995
Events 1995
Goodwood, 9 April – 3rd in Class 98.02s
Pembrey, 3 May – 1st in Sports Libre Class 60.47s
Pembrey Comments from Speedscene June/July:
‘The closest win of the day went to Steve Broughton, the SB Development Westfield-Vauxhall consigned to the Sports Libre Class but repelling a last run comeback by the Dutton of former Jaguar campaigner Mark Lewis by just 0.01s’
Raynham, 23 July – 1st in Class 104.95s
North Weald, 13 Aug – 1st in Class 76.65s
Pestalozzi, 20 Aug – FTD 34.40s
Pestalozzi Event Report:
‘Steve Broughton shrugged off a practice crash in his incredibly quick SB Developments Westfield Vauxhall SEi to set BTD in Sunday’s third Pestalozzi Speed Hillclimb. Among his rivals was Ford’s double World Touring Car Champion Raul Radisich, who shared Turbo Technics boss Geoffrey Kershaw’s mighty turbocharged 3-litre Sierra.’
Pestalozzi Comments from Speedscene August/September:
‘Even last year’s winner Richard Ive has to give best to another blistering performance by Steve Broughton at the famous childrens village hillclimb at Sedlescombe, another storming shot in the rapid SB Development Westfield-Vauxhall netting his sixth successive CCC/BARC/HSA maximum score.’
Goodwood, 3 Sept – 1st in Sports Libre Class 89.69s
Speedscene reports: ‘Steve Broughton once again bringing the rapid Westfield home first’
The CCC/BARC Speed Championship 1995 results were reported in the December issue.
‘Steve Broughton clinched the Southern Championship in his awesome Vauxhall Westfield. Steve deserves further mention since he was running in the Sports Libre class against a bunch of clubman Mallocks. Watching him drive his zero downforce Westfield was always great entertainment’
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